Eurasia Press & News
WASHINGTON (AP) — President George W. Bush said Tuesday the unruly execution of Saddam Hussein “looked like it was kind of a revenge killing” and will make it harder for him to convince a sceptical US public that Iraq’s government will keep promises central to Bush’s plan for an American troop increase.
In his toughest assessment yet, Bush criticised the circumstances of the former Iraqi president’s hanging last month, as well as Monday’s execution of two top aides, including Saddam’s half-brother.
“I was disappointed and felt like they fumbled the — particularly the Saddam Hussein execution,” the president said in an interview with public television’s Jim Lehrer.
A cellphone video of Saddam’s December 30 hanging showed the deposed Iraqi leader being taunted as he stood on the gallows with a noose around his neck. An official video of the execution of Saddam’s half-brother showed that the hangman’s noose decapitated him. Both hangings provoked outrage around the world, but particularly among Saddam’s fellow Sunni Muslims in Iraq.
Bush said he had expressed his displeasure about the way Saddam’s execution was handled to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki. The president announced what he called a new strategy for the war last week, and much of it hinges on his trust in Maliki’s government to make radical changes.
“It basically says to people, ‘Look, you conducted a trial and gave Saddam justice that he didn’t give to others. But then, when it came to execute him, it looked like it was kind of a revenge killing,”‘ the president said.
“It makes it harder for me to make the case to the American people that this is a government that does want to unify the country and move forward,” Bush said. “And it just goes to show that this is a government that has still got some maturation to do.”
Bush agreed to the interview, to be telecast Tuesday, and one during the weekend on CBS’ “60 Minutes” to help sell his revised war plan to the public.
Polls show that Americans are overwhelmingly unhappy with Bush’s Iraq policy. Seventy per cent oppose sending more troops to Iraq, as he intends to do, according to an Associated Press-Ipsos poll released last week.
Bush said if a pollster asked for his opinion about Iraq, “I would be one of those that said, ‘No, I don’t approve of what’s taking place in Iraq.”‘ But he said that keeping his same policies in place in the war would lead to “a slow failure,” while withdrawing from Iraq, as some critics suggest, would result in an “expedited failure.” “I am frustrated with the progress,” the president said.
“A year ago, I felt pretty good about the situation. I felt like we were achieving our objective, which is a country that can govern, sustain and defend itself. No question, 2006 was a lousy year for Iraq.” Senate Democrats plan to introduce a resolution by Thursday that would denounce the president’s plan. Floor debate would begin next week, around the time Bush delivers his January 23 State of the Union speech.
The bill, by not eliminating funding for either current troops or the additions, would essentially be a toothless expression of Congress’ position. But it would help Democrats gauge Republican support for more aggressive legislative tactics as well as embarrass Bush.
On Tuesday, Democrats were trying to recruit potential Republican co-sponsors. Several GOP senators have spoken out against sending more troops.
“The hope is to introduce a bill that would be a bipartisan resolution,” said Jim Manley, spokesman for Sen. Harry Reid, leader of the Senate’s Democratic majority.
Democrats in the House of Representatives say they will wait for the Senate to debate the resolution before taking up their own. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told reporters Tuesday he anticipates the Senate will result in a “significant bipartisan vote” that will help set the tone for the House debate.
White House press secretary Tony Snow issued a thinly veiled demand that Congress’ Democratic leaders think through the ramifications of any vote.
“In an age of instant and global communication, what message does it send to the people who are fighting democracy in Iraq, and also what message does it send to the troops?” he said. “But, you know, the House and Senate are going to do whatever they do. What the president is determined to do is continue moving forward in a way that creates conditions for success in Iraq.” As the president pressed the case for his troop additions, there were ugly reminders from Iraq of the tough job ahead.
More than 100 people died in several attacks in predominantly Shiite Muslim areas, including an explosion outside a Baghdad university that killed at least 65 people and a blast at a marketplace for used motorcycles. The United Nations, meanwhile, said more than 34,000 Iraqi civilians died last year in sectarian violence.
